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California boosts pot taxes, shocking unsteady industry
Associated Press ^ | November 23, 2019 | Michael R. Blood

Posted on 11/23/2019 5:30:27 PM PST by Olog-hai

California is increasing business tax rates on legal marijuana, a move that stunned struggling companies that have been pleading with the state to do just the opposite.

Hefty marijuana taxes that can approach 50 percent in some communities have been blamed for pushing shoppers into California’s tax-free illegal market, which is thriving. Industry analysts estimate that $3 are spent in the illegal market for every $1 in the legal one.

The California Cannabis Industry Association said in a statement that its members are “stunned and outraged.”

The group said the higher taxes that will take effect Jan. 1 will make it even worse for a legal industry struggling under the weight of heavy regulation and fees, local bans on pot sales and growing and a booming underground marketplace.

(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: california; cannabis; commiefornia; gavinnewsom; jerrybrown; liberaltarians; libertarians; losertarians; marijuana; medicalmarijuana; pot; taxes; upinsmoke; wod
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To: Olog-hai

Is it legal to grow your own in California, or does the law require that you purchase it from a retailer?


21 posted on 11/23/2019 6:05:43 PM PST by MRadtke (Light a candle or curse the darkness?)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

Need more than 1?


22 posted on 11/23/2019 6:09:10 PM PST by Chickensoup (Voter ID for 2020!! Leftists totalitarian fascists appear to be planning to eradicate conservatives)
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To: Chickensoup

I don’t know the law but I think people are allowed to grow at least a few plants.


23 posted on 11/23/2019 6:14:06 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
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To: Chickensoup

“This may be a dumb question, but why would any marijuana user buy marijuana?”

how many average potheads do you know who have the patience and intelligence to research the best strains to plant, where to buy the right seeds, indoor cultivation techniques (only indoor grows are legal in most states), and how to sex the plants and cull the males, and then buy grow lights, timers, fans, sterile potting soil, fertilizers and other paraphernalia to grow indoors, tend the plants every day for a few months, learn how to dry and store the crop, all BEFORE taking the first toke?


24 posted on 11/23/2019 6:27:28 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: Maskot

“Nobody saw this coming. At all....”

When all this started coming about I rebutted a few articles espousing the groovy beauty of the legal MJ market.

Taxes was one issue covered, which would drive the buyer back to other sources with the resulting crop rustling that is bound to happen.

Crop rustling would then require security measures driving legal producing entities no other choice except raising prices and (in all probability) even some deadly skirmishing.

It is much harder to rustle alcohol and pot crops would be easy pickings (no pun intended) until the hammers start dropping.


25 posted on 11/23/2019 6:31:13 PM PST by Clutch Martin (The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
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To: catnipman

Well as someone who has walked through most of the income properties in the state, I would say quite a few. I dont think I saw any apartments that didint have a grow light and five or six plants.

People are very smart about the things that they want.


26 posted on 11/23/2019 6:35:26 PM PST by Chickensoup (Voter ID for 2020!! Leftists totalitarian fascists appear to be planning to eradicate conservatives)
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To: catnipman
all BEFORE taking the first toke?

Terrific synopsis....very funny too!

27 posted on 11/23/2019 6:42:38 PM PST by Fightin Whitey
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To: Olog-hai

There is a massive push for pot in NJ. I keep on telling people that government as the “drug dealer” is the wrong answer let alone legalized pot is insane. I am called a “prohibitionist” LMAO. So much stupid in the issue but the bottom line is that government will rape the whole thing until it’s destroyed as people say no to pot when it becomes a typical epidemic. Government will then come in to save the day just like the Vaping “crisis”.


28 posted on 11/23/2019 6:50:48 PM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: catnipman

Actually, it’s not that hard.
There are books...
In Colorado, anyone can have up to six plants for personal use.
No seeds, all clones with pedigrees
I think it’s three flowering and three growing into mature plants.
There are lighting and hydroponic kits for sale on the net.
It’s the smell that can be a problem, resinous odors emanate in the grow house.

Dispensary pricing can be $80 for 1/8oz (3.5g).
Non-dispensary pricing can be $150 to $300/oz.

Least that’s what I read about on this topic.


29 posted on 11/23/2019 8:19:32 PM PST by GRRRRR (Make America Greater Than Ever Before!)
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To: Chickensoup

I know the rescue & recovery guys after Katrina found several indoor pot gardens in abandoned buildings in my immediate neighborhood.
This was in a subdivision where crack & heroin were dealt openly on the corner, but nobody had had a clue about the homegrown pot.

The pot growers were accountants, insurance salesmen, the type of people you’d never suspect of being stoners.


30 posted on 11/23/2019 9:25:53 PM PST by mumblypeg
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To: MRadtke

It is legal to grow and I grow(legally)

Have not had to buy any in decades.

I have an excellent crop of seeds also that I pass out to friends.


31 posted on 11/23/2019 9:41:09 PM PST by Jayster (Legalize Marijuana)
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To: Olog-hai

But wait. Didn’t FR’s own nitwit libtardian addicts assure us legalization was the answer to all of life’s problems?


32 posted on 11/23/2019 9:58:24 PM PST by LouAvul
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To: Jayster
Jayster Friend ❣
33 posted on 11/23/2019 10:00:11 PM PST by TianaHighrider (God bless President Trump)
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To: KC_Lion

Cali’s socialists destroy every good thing they can. This is no different.


34 posted on 11/24/2019 1:09:35 AM PST by TheStickman (#MAGA all day every day!)
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To: Olog-hai

This happened in Colorado, too. Legal pot gain popularity because its quality was very high (no pun intended) and you don’t go to jail for it. However, Colorado taxed it 21% and added tons of insane regulations that added cost. They killed the golden goose. After that, the illegal pot became significantly cheaper and used the same high quality pot the legal stuff used. Now, the illegal market is flourishing.


35 posted on 11/24/2019 2:29:31 AM PST by CodeToad
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To: RonnG

Around 200 bucks or so.


36 posted on 11/24/2019 3:08:37 AM PST by waterhill (I Shall Remain, in spite of __________.)
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To: catnipman
how to sex the plants and cull the males

Marijuana plants are gendered? How is it that they are still permitted in California?

37 posted on 11/24/2019 4:19:44 AM PST by sphinx
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To: Olog-hai

I always said legalizing marijuana will only make the black market thrive because who will want to pay the taxes that the pro-pot side always pushed as an argument for legalization? “Why not legalize it and the state can reap the taxes off it?” “It will run the dealers out of town and clean up the streets”. No it won’t, it will increase the black market. Once it’s no longer illegal to possess it, how will law enforcement be able to determine where you bought it? Who is going to go into a licensed pot shop, once the novelty wears off, and pay twice the price because of the built in regulatory fees and taxes when you can get it cheaper off the street? Cities where pot is legal will attract more street dealers who deal more than pot, making it more accessible to kids, too.


38 posted on 11/24/2019 5:01:10 AM PST by FrdmLvr (They never thought she would lose.)
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To: sphinx

“Marijuana plants are gendered? How is it that they are still permitted in California? “

1. an exception for diversity is made for pot

2. AND, it’s the males being culled, NOT the females ...


39 posted on 11/24/2019 8:11:13 AM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: Olog-hai

So, everything is going to plan.

In other news...


40 posted on 11/24/2019 8:14:20 AM PST by Kickass Conservative (Kill a Commie for your Mommy.)
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